THE BBC National Orchestra of Wales is boycotting Newport Centre because of poor acoustics and falling audiences.

The news has sent a shock wave through the ranks of serious music lovers and caused bewilderment among councillors and council officials.

In a terse letter to its Newport supporters the orchestra's administrators said: "BBC NoW is very sorry not to be returning to the Newport Centre this year. The orchestra has been experiencing declining audiences in recent years, a trend which, despite our best efforts, we have been unable to reverse.

"The centre is also not ideal from an acoustics point of view." A BBC spokeswoman yesterday confirmed the contents of the letter but was unable to give further details.

The letter contained the seeds of a further humiliation for the city by refusing to confirm that concerts would be automatically resumed in Newport's Riverside Arts Centre when it opens this autumn.

"We hope that we will be able to return to Newport at some point in the future although there are no firm plans to do so," it said.

"It is possible that BBC NoW may perform in the Riverside Arts Centre although this is not confirmed and is dependent on the arts centre being able to accommodate the orchestra."

A Newport council spokeswoman said news of the NoW withdrawal had come from the Argus and not directly from the orchestra. She said said previous talks between the two bodies had been "cordial".